Reality Sets In
by Shadowcaster7
Summary: This picks up right after Season 2. Damon and Elena come to terms with what Stefan has done. Damon is left to come up with a plan to recover his brother.    Please leave a review if you like it and I will continue.


As Katherine left the room, her words echoed in Elena's ears like a distant wave crashing on the shore. "It's okay to love them both," she said. And at that she was gone, and more importantly, Stefan was gone.

He sacrificed himself to save his brother from dying, and as the reality of it hit her, she felt it. A sick pain twisted in her gut, she curled into it and fell to the ground at the foot of the bed that she had just jumped out of … mostly from the sheer embarrassment at first. She was caught in a tender moment with Damon and by none other than Katherine. Elena told herself it was harmless, but that wouldn't stop Katherine from using that against her when she got the chance.

But as soon as Katherine told them the news, Elena quickly forgot everything and her thoughts raced to Stefan. A jolt of fear gripped her body and continued in fast waves. Her eyes started to glisten with mounting tears that she couldn't hold back anymore.

"Stefan, no" she quietly sobbed as glistening wet droplets trailed down her cheeks.

Damon was still sitting on the edge of the bed; his face was already getting its color back, his strength was returning - as well as his mind from what transpired in the past 24 hours.

The cure was already working and as he looked down at his forearm he could see the diseased bite mark heal to the point where it was completely normal. He allowed himself to close his eyes and felt sweet relief for just a moment, he wasn't going to die. Then just as quickly he thought of Stefan, his little brother, always cleaning up his mess and trying to do good. _Look where it got you little brother,_ he thought silently. _What will he do to you? _

"Stefan," he said in a soft whisper, turning to Elena when he noticed her dropping to the floor and sobbing, unable to control her tears.

Damon rushed to her side, grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet to look at her. He steadied her as she swayed in an almost drunkenly exaggerated manner as if she was about to fall back down. "Elena, this isn't over," he said to her.

"Damon, Stefan is gone," she said, her eyes staring away at an invisible nothing and repeated what was running through her dizzy mind, as if he had not heard anything that Katherine said.

"Elena, this isn't over," he repeated to her again. He shook her softly to jolt her out of her stupor. "Hey, hey, look at me. We will get him back."

As she made eye contact she was thrown back by his stare. His beautiful blue eyes were determined and angry, _like a wild animal_, Elena thought as she came to her senses.

"How will we stop him, Damon? We lost our chance and we did it all for nothing," she began to sob again. "Jenna's dead, Stefan is gone and now what are we supposed to do?"

She wanted to hold Stefan in her arms, hear his words of reassurance that everything would be fine, she wanted to feel safe and protected. He was always so level headed and knew exactly what to do, but now what? How would he save himself from Klaus?

At that moment, Damon pulled her into his arms as if he knew what she needed. The shock was too much to bear, losing so many people she loved and now this.

Damon had no idea how they would get him back. He wondered how Stefan could agree to this and why he didn't just let him die.

Damon was certain of one thing; he would make Klaus pay for what he had done.

_But why did he take Stefan?_ _All of this shit could have been avoided if Elena would have just let the witch kill him and be done with it, _Damon thought. _But then that would be just another person Elena would lose. Shit. _

Damon felt the bubbling wells of anger come up hot and hard, he wanted to yell and punch a wall out but he held it back. He squeezed Elena tightly once more and vowed to himself that they would get him back and end Klaus for good this time.

He tried to calm himself and at the very back of his mind, he thought about it. That kiss she had given him out of something- was it pity? No, it was something else. He let it go again and thought back to Stefan.

_I'm coming for you brother. Just hold on. _


End file.
